The basic differences between writing a book report and writing a book review

By Dennis Mellersh

Writing a book report differs considerably from writing a book review.

A book report is generally associated with an academic setting, such as a high school, college or university assignment. As such it will likely be given a grade or otherwise recognized in an overall course mark or evaluation.

Writing a book review, by contrast, is generally done specifically for publication or distribution in some form of media such as a newspaper, magazine, website/blog, You Tube, discussion forum, or other media venue.

The Book Report
Generally, writing a book report does not require that the writer of the report  be an expert  or have personal  background experience concerning  the subject matter of the book, although familiarity with the topic the book is about, or with the genre, such if the book is a novel, would be an asset in producing a good report.

Briefly, a book report focuses on reporting in detail what a particular book is about. The book might be one that you choose yourself, or it may be assigned, with a number of people reporting on the same book. Essentially you will be writing a summary of the book.

The first requirement of course, is to read the book. While reading, it’s a good idea to make some notes as you go along on particular passages about the book that you like, find interesting, agree or disagree with, and chapters or sections that you find particularly well written.

The length of the report may be left open to the writer, but generally in an academic assignment the length will be specified, whether it is to be 500, 1,000, or 1,500 words, for example.

Writing a book report or summary leaves some room for originality in your writing, and this is important as your report will be ineffective, dull, and not likely to be well regarded if it is just an unimaginative recitation of slightly amplified chapter headings. Similarly, just skimming the book and trying to dash off a report quickly will be unsatisfying. Allow time to read the book thoroughly.

It’s important to include your personal reaction to, or interpretation of, the book’s contents and also whether you feel the book achieved its objectives. You can usually find out what the author is trying to accomplish in the preface, or introduction, which is often included in a non-fiction book.

The Book Review
As stated earlier, a book review is generally assigned by and/or written for a media venue. Today with self-publishing being a hot trend, the media outlet could be your own website, blog, or You Tube channel specializing in book reviews.

Usually the writer of w book review has some expertise in the subject matter of the book. If it is a novel, the writer of the review might be a novelist for example; if the book is a about a scientific topic, the reviewer may be a scientist or expert in the topic; if the book is a collection of essays, the book reviewer may be a writer well known for their essays; if an historical book, the reviewer might be an historian, if a biography, the reviewer will often be an author who writes biographies, and so on.

Even if the reviewer is not a specialized expert, they are likely to have a strong interest in the subject matter of the book, or in the author, or both. Usually, the reviewer will be experienced enough to be able to offer comparisons with other books on the same subject.

Generally speaking a book review will be highly evaluative with the review writer stating strongly the merits and shortcomings, if any, of the book in question. Although unprofessionally written and edited books are not likely to be reviewed, reviewers will sometimes review a book that is not up to the standards which a book author’s readers have come to expect.

Book reviews for distribution in media will be more in-depth in length and perception, than the short and sometimes superficial reviews, often with “star” ratings (2 out of five stars etc.) that one sees on bookseller websites, for example. Book reviews are also totally different from the short promotional blurbs of praise often seen on the outside back covers of books, although some of these blurbs might be excerpts from favorable reviews of the book.

If you are interested in “learning by doing” with book reviews, as a starting point you might want to consider is having a blog featuring book reviews. Ideally the books you review would be either on a topic that interests you, a type of writing that interests you (such as fantasy), authors that interest you, or a combination of all three elements.